Happenings at This Day in History

About a year ago I stopped making regular updates to this blog to concentrate on my Namnesia Antidote blog. While that is an ongoing effort, I am starting what should be about a year long effort to revitalize the concept of a "This Day in History" blog. I have decided to leave this blog intact and as-is, using a new "This Day in History 2.0" blog for my expanded and full version. Please feel free to email with your ideas. The two tables below should allow you to find a posting for the "Day in History" you wish to research.

A Proud Liberal


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Thursday, February 28, 2008

February 28......

February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 306 (307 in leap years) days remaining in the year on this date.

In a common year (non-leap year) it is the last day of February.

Day of the week in surrounding years:
1977,1983,. . . .,1994,2000—MON—2005
1978,1984,1989,1995,. . . .—TUE—2006
1979,. . . .,1990,1996,2001—WED—2007
1980,1985,1991,. . . .,2002—THU—2008
. . . .,1986,1992,1997,2003—FRI—. . . .
1981,1987,. . . .,1998,2004—SAT—2009
1982,1988,1993,1999,. . . .—SUN—2010

PASCAL DATE INFORMATION
Easter Sunday for the Western Christian Church is defined as the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. Lent is defined as the forty days prior to Easter not including Sundays thus Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is 46 days prior to Easter. Calculations for Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday were performed for the 3774 years from 326 to 4099. For the year range 326 to 1582, dates are based on the Julian calendar. For years 1583 to 4099, dates are based on the Gregorian calendar. Ash Wednesday falls in a range of 36 days from February 4 to March 10. Easter Sunday falls in a range of 35 days from March 22 to April 25. The extra day in the Ash Wednesday range is February 29, which only occurs in leap years. February 29 only effects when Ash Wednesday occurs since it is well before the Spring Equinox and has no effect on the date for Easter Sunday. March 10 to March 21 is a twelve-day range that must occur in Lent no matter the timing of Easter Sunday. The entire range of 82 dates from February 4 to April 25 represents all dates with Pascal ramifications.

February 28 is the 25th possible date for Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday occurs on this date 130 times during the 3774 years calculated and is ranked 8th/9th/10th of the 36 dates.

It occurred on this date previously in the years:
339, 344, 423, 434, 507, 518, 529, 591, 602, 613, 624, 686, 697, 708, 781, 792, 871, 876, 955, 966, 1039, 1050, 1061, 1123, 1134, 1145, 1156, 1218, 1229, 1240, 1313, 1324, 1403, 1408, 1487, 1498, 1571, 1582, 1596, 1607, 1618, 1629, 1691, 1748, 1759, 1770, 1781, 1816, 1827, 1838, 1900, 1906, 1968, 1979, 1990, 2001
It will occur on this date in the future in the years:
2063, 2074, 2085, 2120, 2131, 2142, 2153, 2210, 2221, 2283, 2294, 2340, 2351, 2362, 2373, 2435, 2446, 2457, 2503, 2514, 2525, 2587, 2598, 2655, 2666, 2677, 2712, 2723, 2734, 2745, 2807, 2818, 2829, 2891, 2959, 2970, 2981, 3027, 3038, 3049, 3106, 3117, 3179, 3190, 3201, 3274, 3280, 3285, 3331, 3342, 3353, 3410, 3421, 3483, 3494, 3551, 3562, 3573, 3635, 3646, 3657, 3703, 3714, 3725, 3798, 3866, 3872, 3877, 3923, 3934, 3945, 4018, 4024, 4029

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Families "Patriarchy's chief institution is the family. It is both a mirror of and a connection with the larger society; a patriarchal unit within a patriarchal whole." — Kate Millett

Stupidest and/or Scariest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Demonizing Democrats or Don't Kill All the Liberals "By the way, it's probably a good thing Vice President Gore wasn't at Independence Hall in 1776! I bet he would have tried to talk Jefferson out of that risky independence scheme!" — Gov. Tom Ridge (R-PA) {later to be named the nation's top color coordinator and fear monger} addressing the Republican National Convention. PBS.org, 8-3-00.

Dumbest Thing Said for the Day: From the world of Sports "At the end, excitement maintained its hysteria." — Jerry Coleman was an infielder for the Yankees (what is it about the Bronx Bombers that turned out such a raft of funny speakers?), and manager of the San Diego Padres. After playing, he made his mark as a radio and TV broadcaster, where his malapropisms, non sequiturs, and other goofs became legendary. Coleman is Hall of Shame member #8.

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}


MOON PHASE

Berkeley, California—Times are Pacific Standard Time (PST)
Third Quarter Moon: Feb 28, 2008 6:19 PM Percent of Full: 50% Age: 75% Rise: 12:58 AM Set: 10:17 AM
Surprise, Arizona—Times are Mountain Standard Time (MST)
Third Quarter Moon: Feb 28, 2008 7:19 PM Percent of Full: 50% Age: 75% Rise: 1:03 AM Set: 10:50 AM
Iowa City, Iowa—Times are Central Standard Time (CST)
Third Quarter Moon: Feb 28, 2008 8:19 PM Percent of Full: 50% Age: 75% Rise: 1:04 AM Set: 9:56 AM
Cambridge, Massachusetts—Times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Third Quarter Moon: Feb 28, 2008 9:19 PM Percent of Full: 50% Age: 75% Rise: 12:42 AM Set: 9:30 AM


NASA ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY

ISS: Sunlight to Shadow


Credit & Copyright: Till Credner, AlltheSky.com
Click picture to go to NASA APOD site for full explanation


EVENTS

● 202 B.C.E. - this day marks the coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China

● 364 - Valentinian I is elevated as Roman Emperor.

● 870 - The Fourth Constantinople Council closed, under Pope Adrian II in the West and Emperor Basil I in the East. The council had condemned iconoclasm, and became the last ecumenical council held in the Eastern Mediterranean area.

● 1066 - Westminster Abbey opens

● 1525 - Mexico - Cuauhtemoc is assassinated.

● 1570 - Anti-Portugese uprising on Ternate, Moluccas

● 1574 - First New World victims of Spanish Inquisition burned at the stake.

● 1610 - Thomas West, Baron De La Warr, is appointed governor of Virginia

● 1638 - Scottish Presbyterians sign National Convenant, Greyfriars, Edinburgh

● 1646 - Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church

● 1653 - 3 Day Sea battle English beats Dutch

● 1667 - English colony Suriname in Dutch hands

● 1692 - Salem witch hunt begins

● 1700 - Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.

● 1704 - Elias Neau, a Frenchman, opens a school for blacks in New York NY

● 1704 - Indians attack Deerfield MA, kill 40, kidnap 100

● 1708 - Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island NY, 11 die

● 1710 - In the Battle of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock.

● 1730 - Tsarina Anna Ivanovna leads autocracy

● 1759 - Pope Clement XIII granted permission for the Bible to be translated into the languages of the Roman Catholic states.

● 1778 - Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves

● 1784 - English churchman John Wesley, 80, formally chartered the movement within Anglicanism which afterward came to be known as Wesleyan Methodism.

● 1787 - Charter granted establishing the institution now known as the University of Pittsburgh.

● 1794 - US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin

● 1826 - M Biela, an Austrian officer, discovers Biela's Comet

● 1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

● 1838 - Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaim the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec)

● 1844 - During an official inspection tour of the U.S.S. Princeton, a 10-inch gun (the Navy's largest at the time) blew up, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Kilmer, and 10 others. Pres. John Tyler, who at the time of the explosion was in a cabin below with Miss Julia Gardiner (the daughter of one of those killed) was unharmed. They subsequently married.

● 1847 - US defeats México in battle of Sacramento

● 1849 - Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor.

● 1850 - The University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah.

● 1853 - Libenyl executed for attempted assassination of emperor of Austria.

● 1854 - The Republican Party forms in Ripon, Wisconsin, due to opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act, which became law three months later, left the issue of slavery to the settlers of each state {Of course Native Americans and slave need not express opinions.}.

● 1859 - Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery

● 1861 - Nevada & Colorado are organized as a United States territories.

● 1861 - The Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples sign the Treaty of Fort Wise, agreeing to cede their land and live on a small reservation in southwest Colorado. U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Colonel A.B. Greenwood issues medals, blankets, sugar and tobacco. But only six of 44 Cheyenne chiefs sign the treaty, casting doubt on the gala affair's legality.

● 1863 - Confederate raider "Nashville" sinks near Fort McAllister GA

● 1864 - Raid at Kilpatrick's Richmond

● 1864 - Skirmish at Albemarle County Virginia (Burton's Ford)

● 1870 - The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.

● 1871 - 2nd Enforcement Act gives federal control of congressional elections

● 1873 - The Society of Mary, founded in 1816, was officially recognized by Pope Pius IX. This religious order seeks to combine the work of education with foreign missions.

● 1877 - Federal government seizes Black Hills from Lakota Sioux in violation of treaty.

● 1878 - US congress authorizes large-size silver certificate

● 1879 - "Exodus of 1879" southern blacks flee political/economic exploitation

● 1882 - 1st US college cooperative store opens, at Harvard University

● 1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)

● 1887 - France - The anarchist thief and member of the "Panthers of Batignolles," Clement Duval has his death sentence commuted to life by the President of the Republic. Duval, a partially disabled veteran of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, spent a year in prison for stealing from his employer in order to feed his family and buy much-needed medication. Unable to support his family upon his release, he undertook a life of crime. After burgling the mansion of a wealthy Paris socialite, he set it ablaze. Accosted by a policeman outside, he struck the officer down and fled. He was sentenced to death upon his capture, but this was commuted to life at hard labor. Duval attempted escape 20 times, and after finally succeeding, reached New York, where he lived until age 85, surrounded by Italian anarchist comrades.

● 1888 - Ferry in San Pablo Bay explodes

● 1893 - Edward Acheson, Pennsylvania, patents an abrasive he names "carborundum"

● 1897 - Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch in Madagascar, was deposed by a French military force.

● 1900 - The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted.

● 1901 - Birth of Linus Pauling, Portland, Oregon. Receives two Nobel prizes -- one for physics and one for his early (1950s) anti-nuclear activism.

● 1903 - Japanese and Chicanos form labor organization against growers.

● 1908 - Failed assassination attempt on Shah Mohammed Ali in Teheran

● 1913 - French anarchists Andre Soudy and Raymond Callemin sentenced to death for their roles in a Mar. 1912 Bonnet Gang attack in which two people were killed.

● 1917 - AP reports México & Japan will ally with Germany if US enters WWI

● 1917 - Russian Duma sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets

● 1919 - Gandhi launches satyagraha campaign, India.

● 1921 - Russia - Kronstadt Revolt begins, in sympathy with the resistance in Petrograd and critical of Bolshevism. Demands workers' rule.

● 1921 - Salvadoran shoemakers win strike for higher wages -- prompting a government crackdown.

● 1922 - Egypt regains independence from Britain, but British troops remain

● 1923 - Swedish king Gustaaf V begins state visit to Netherlands

● 1924 - US begins intervention in Honduras

● 1925 - Congress authorizes a special handling stamp

● 1931 - Oswald Mosley founds his New Party

● 1933 - 1st female in cabinet Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor

● 1933 - Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. German President Von Hindenburg abolishes free expression of opinion. Hitler disallows German communist party (KPD)

● 1935 - Nylon is discovered by Wallace Carothers.

● 1937 - One thousand rally against war, Hyde Park, London.

● 1939 - Great-Britain recognizes Franco-regime in Spain

● 1939 - Sit-down strikes outlawed by U.S. Supreme Court.

● 1939 - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin zabavnik was published.

● 1939 - The word "Dord" is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.

● 1940 - US population at 131,669,275 (12,865,518 blacks (9.8%))

● 1941 - 39 U Boats (197,000 ton) sunk this month

● 1941 - Birth of Alice Brock. Her restaurant was immortalized by Arlo Guthrie.

● 1941 - British-Italian dogfight above Albania

● 1942 - 1st weapon drop on Netherlands

● 1942 - Japanese land in Java, last Allied bastion in Dutch East Indies

● 1942 - Race riot, Sojourner Truth Homes, Detroit

● 1942 - The heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed.

● 1943 - 63 U Boats (359,300 ton) sinks this month

● 1947 - 2/28 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down at a loss of 30,000 civilian lives.

● 1947 - U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'Let not the past ever be so dear to us as to set a limit to the future. Give us the courage to change our minds when that is needed.'

● 1951 - A Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime syndicates were operating in the United States.

● 1951 - French government of Pleven dissolves

● 1953 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; formal announcement April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2).

● 1953 - Stalin meets with Beria, Bulganin, Khrushchev & Malenkov

● 1954 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island

● 1956 - 13 die in a train crash in Swampscott MA

● 1956 - Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory

● 1958 - Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament founded, London, England.

● 1959 - Launch of Discoverer 1 (WTR)-1st polar orbit

● 1961 - JFK names Henry Kissinger special advisor

● 1962 - The John Glenn for President club was formed by a group of Las Vegas republicans. {Little did the fools know he would later run as a Democrat for Senate from Ohio and win.}

● 1967 - Radical human rights activist Ramsey Clark named as U.S. Attorney General by President Johnson. {Later he would have the thankless job of being a defense attorney for Saddam Hussein during his kangaroo court trial.}

● 1970 - First British national women's liberation conference, Oxford, England.

● 1970 - Winter Festival for Peace, Madison Square Garden, New York City.

● 1972 - Angela Davis trial starts, San Jose, California.

● 1972 - President Richard Nixon ends historic week-long visit to China

● 1972 - Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.

● 1972 - U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions on Rhodesia and Lebanon.

● 1973 - Suriname government of Sedney arrests 13 union leaders

● 1974 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.

● 1974 - Australia - Aborigines demonstrate for recognition of land rights.

● 1974 - Ethiopian government of Makonnen forms

● 1974 - Labour Party wins British parliamentary election

● 1974 - Taiwan police shoot into crowd

● 1975 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 112 people injured 20 people.

● 1975 - EG signs accord of Lomé with 46 developing countries

● 1975 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1976 - Ceuta & Melilla (Spanish Morocco) are last European African possession

● 1977 - Harbor strike in Rotterdam/Amsterdam ends

● 1979 - Mr. Ed, the talking horse from the TV show "Mr. Ed", died. His last words - "Wiil-l-l-l-l-bu-r-r-r-rr."

● 1980 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1981 - China PR throws out Netherlands ambassador due to submarine sale to Taiwan

● 1982 - AT&T looses record $7 BILLION for fiscal year ending on this day

● 1982 - FALN (PR Nationalist Group) bombs Wall Street

● 1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).

● 1985 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.

● 1986 - European Economic Community sign "Special Act" for Europe free trade

● 1986 - Olaf Palme, left-leaning Swedish Prime Minister, assassinated in Stockholm.

● 1988 - Anti-Armenian pogrom in Azerbaijan, 30 killed

● 1988 - Passaic County (New Jersey) judge signs the order dismissing the 1966 murder indictment of Hurricane Carter.

● 1989 - Nevada-Semipalatnisk Movement to Stop All Nuclear Testing founded in U.S.S.R.; inspired by the large Nevada Test Site anti-nuclear demonstrations and encampments outside Las Vegas in mid to late 1980s.

● 1990 - Dutch police seize 3,000 kg of cocaine

● 1990 - US 65th manned space mission STS 36 (Atlantis 6) launches into orbit

● 1991 - Cease fire ends U.S. offensive in Iraq.

● 1991 - Three soldiers seek sanctuary as objectors to Gulf War in Riverside Church, New York City.

● 1993 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff that ends in an FBI bonfire.

● 1994 - Brady Law, imposing a wait-period to buy a hand-gun, went into effect

● 1994 - NATO made its first military strike when U.S. F-16 fighters shot down four Bosnian Serb warplanes in violation of a no-fly zone over central Bosnia.

● 1995 - The Denver International Airport opened after a 16-month delay.

● 1997 - Earthquake in Pakistan, kills 45

● 1997 - FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia

● 1997 - Smokers must prove they are over 18 to purchase cigarettes in US

● 1997 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place.

● 1998 - Even though the imminent threat of military strikes had been averted by a U.N. agreement, 5,000 rally in New York City protesting U.S. war and sanctions against Iraq. Demonstrations also held in at least 30 other cities.

● 1998 - Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo.

● 2000 - Nuclear chief quits over safety scandal; British Nuclear Fuels confirms its chief executive, John Taylor, has resigned over a safety scandal.

● 2001 - Six passengers and four railway staff are killed and a further 82 people suffer serious injuries in the Selby rail crash.

● 2001 - The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington.

● 2002 - A body found outside San Diego was identified as that of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who'd disappeared from her bedroom about a month earlier; a neighbor was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.

● 2002 - Beginning of three days of riots in Gujarat state, India, in which Hindu nationalists, often assisted by police, massacre nearly a thousand Muslims.

● 2002 - Sotheby's auction house announced that it had identified Peter Paul Reubens as the creator of the painting "The Massacre of the Innocents." The painting was previously thought to be by Jan van den Hoecke.

● 2004 - Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 2/28 Incident in 1947

● 2005 - A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.

● 2005 - Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.

● 2007 - Jupiter flyby of the New Horizons Pluto-observer spacecraft.


BIRTHS

● 1155 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)

● 1261 - Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (d. 1283)

● 1409 - Elisabeth II of Bohemia (d. 1442)

● 1533 - Michel de Montaigne, French writer (d. 1592)

● 1552 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker (d. 1632)

● 1612 - John Pearson, English theologian (d. 1686)

● 1670 - Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (d. 1737)

● 1675 - Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)

● 1683 - René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French scientist (d. 1757)

● 1704 - Louis Godin, French astronomer (d. 1760)

● 1712 - Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander (d. 1759)

● 1724 - George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, British field marshal (d. 1807)

● 1783 - Gabriele Rossetti, Italian poet, revolutionary, and scholar (d. 1854)

● 1812 - Berthold Auerbach, German poet and author (d. 1882)

● 1820 - John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)

● 1823 - Ernest Renan, French philosopher (d. 1892)

● 1824 - Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897)

● 1827 - Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897)

● 1833 - Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)

● 1838 - Maurice Lévy, French engineer (d. 1910)

● 1840 - Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892)

● 1841 - Adrien Albert Marie de Mun, French politician (d. 1914)

● 1865 - Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary (d. 1940)

● 1872 - Douglas McGarel Hogg, English lawyer and politician (d. 1950)

● 1878 - Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1952)

● 1878 - Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929)

● 1882 - Geraldine Farrar, American soprano (d. 1967)

● 1882 - José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer (d. 1959)

● 1882 - Pádraic Ó Conaire, Irish writer (d. 1928)

● 1894 - Ben Hecht, American playwright (d. 1964)

● 1895 - Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and film director (d. 1974)

● 1896 - Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1965)

● 1900 - Wolfram Hirth, German pilot (d. 1959)

● 1901 - Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, double Nobel laureate (d. 1994)

● 1903 - Vincente Minnelli, American film director (d. 1986)

● 1906 - Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)

● 1907 - Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) (d. 1988)

● 1908 - Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)

● 1909 - Sir Stephen Spender, English poet (d. 1995)

● 1911 - Denis Parsons Burkitt, English surgeon and medical researcher (d. 1993)

● 1912 - Clara Petacci, Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini (d. 1945)

● 1915 - Ketti Frings, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, (d. 1981)

● 1915 - Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1987)

● 1915 - Zero Mostel, American actor (d. 1977)

● 1921 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (d. 2006)

● 1923 - Charles Durning, American actor

● 1925 - Harry H Corbett, English actor (d. 1982)

● 1926 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Soviet defector, daughter of Joseph Stalin

● 1929 - Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect

● 1929 - Hayden Fry, American football coach

● 1929 - John Montague, Irish poet

● 1929 - Joseph Rouleau, French Canadian bass opera singer

● 1930 - Leon Neil Cooper, American physicist, Nobel laureate

● 1931 - Dean Smith, American basketball coach and Hall of Fame member

● 1931 - Gavin MacLeod, Actor (''Love Boat,'' ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'')

● 1932 - Don Francks, Canadian actor

● 1933 - Rein Taagepera, Estonian politician

● 1939 - Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel laureate

● 1939 - Tommy Tune, American dancer

● 1940 - Joe South, American singer

● 1940 - Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver and one-time F1 world champion

● 1942 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)

● 1942 - Dino Zoff, Italian footballer

● 1942 - Frank Bonner, American actor

● 1943 - Barbara Acklin, American soul singer (d. 1998)

● 1944 - Kelly Bishop, American actress (''Gilmore Girls'')

● 1944 - Sepp Maier, German footballer

● 1944 - Win Aung, Burmese politician

● 1945 - Bubba Smith, American football player and actor

● 1946 - Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005)

● 1946 - Syreeta Wright, American singer (d. 2004)

● 1947 - Stephanie Beacham, English actress

● 1948 - Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer

● 1948 - Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

● 1948 - Mike Figgis, English director

● 1948 - Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel laureate

● 1951 - Bill Cratty, American modern dancer and choreographer (d. 1998)

● 1952 - William Finn, American composer

● 1953 - Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian racing driver

● 1953 - Paul Krugman, American economist

● 1954 - Brian Billick, American football coach

● 1955 - Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian

● 1956 - Adrian Dantley, American basketball player

● 1956 - Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born Northern Irish footballer

● 1956 - Mike Tenay, American wrestling commentator

● 1957 - Ainsley Harriott, British celebrity chef

● 1957 - Cindy Wilson, American singer (The B-52's)

● 1957 - John Turturro, American actor

● 1957 - Paul Delph, American musician and producer (d. 1996)

● 1958 - Jeanne Mas, French singer and actress

● 1960 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian actress (d. 1980)

● 1961 - Eric Bachelart, Belgian racing driver

● 1961 - Mark Latham, Australian politician

● 1961 - Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress

● 1961 - René Simard, French Canadian singer and TV host

● 1963 - Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist

● 1964 - Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan cyclist

● 1966 - Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer

● 1967 - Colin Cooper, English footballer

● 1968 - Stéphan Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1969 - Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver

● 1969 - Patrick Monahan, American singer (Train)

● 1969 - Robert Sean Leonard, American actor ("House")

● 1969 - Tor Øivind Ødegaard, Norwegian track runner

● 1970 - Daniel Handler, American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket

● 1970 - Noureddine Morceli, Algerian athlete

● 1971 - Junya Nakano, Japanese composer

● 1971 - Maxine Bahns, Actress

● 1971 - Tristan Louis, American writer

● 1972 - Rory Cochrane, American actor

● 1973 - Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1973 - Nicolas Minassian, French racing driver

● 1974 - Lee Carsley, Irish footballer

● 1974 - Moana Mackey, New Zealand politician

● 1975 - Mike Rucker, American football player

● 1976 - Adam Pine, Australian swimmer

● 1976 - Ali Larter, American actress and model

● 1976 - Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Canadian actor

● 1977 - Jason Aldean, American Country singer

● 1978 - Benjamin Raich, Austrian Olympic skier

● 1978 - Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player

● 1978 - Mariano Zabaleta, Argentine tennis player

● 1979 - Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player

● 1979 - Michael Bisping, English mixed martial artist

● 1979 - Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper

● 1979 - Sébastien Bourdais, French racing driver

● 1980 - Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer

● 1980 - Piotr Giza, Polish footballer

● 1980 - Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player

● 1981 - Brian Bannister, American baseball player

● 1981 - Florent Serra, French tennis player

● 1982 - Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel

● 1984 - Ben Fagan, American musician and reality show contestant

● 1984 - Karolína Kurková, Czech supermodel

● 1985 - Fefe Dobson, Canadian singer

● 1985 - Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player

● 1987 - Kerrea Gilbert, English footballer

● 1989 - Zhang Liyin, Chinese R&B singer

● 1991 - Sarah Bolger, Irish actress

● 2007 - Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco


DEATHS

● 1261 - Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. c. 1230)

● 1326 - Duke Leopold I of Austria (b. 1290)

● 1453 - Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)

● 1485 - Niclas, Graf von Abensberg, German soldier (b. 1441)

● 1510 - Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer

● 1525 - Cuauhtémoc, Aztec Ruler

● 1572 - Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (b. 1505)

● 1621 - Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)

● 1648 - King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. 1577)

● 1746 - Hermann von der Hardt, German historian (b. 1660)

● 1786 - John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713)

● 1788 - Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (b. 1725)

● 1857 - André Dumont, Belgian geologist (b. 1809)

● 1869 - Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer and poet (b. 1790)

● 1916 - Henry James, American writer (b. 1843)

● 1925 - Friedrich Ebert, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871)

● 1929 - Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (b. 1874)

● 1932 - Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (b. 1851)

● 1936 - Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866)

● 1941 - King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)

● 1942 - Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889)

● 1956 - Emile Buisson, French murderer executed (b. 1902)

● 1959 - Maxwell Anderson, American playwright and film writer (b. 1888)

● 1963 - Rajendra Prasad, First President of India (b. 1884)

● 1966 - Jonathan Hale, Canadian-born actor (b. 1891)

● 1967 - Henry Luce, American publisher (b. 1898)

● 1974 - Bobby Bloom, American singer/songwriter (b. 1946)

● 1977 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, American actor (b. 1905)

● 1978 - Eric Frank Russell, English author (b. 1905)

● 1978 - Philip Ahn, American actor (b. 1905)

● 1978 - Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)

● 1979 - Paul Alverdes, German writer (b. 1897)

● 1985 - David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947)

● 1985 - Ray Ellington, English singer (b. 1916)

● 1986 - Laura Z. Hobson, American novelist (b. 1900)

● 1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)

● 1991 - Reinhard Bendix, German sociologist (b. 1916)

● 1991 - Wassily Hoeffding, American statistician (b. 1914)

● 1993 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress and dancer (b. 1910)

● 1998 - Arkady Shevchenko, Soviet diplomat (b. 1930)

● 1998 - Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (b. 1952)

● 1999 - Christine Glanville, British Puppeteer (. 1924)

● 2002 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)

● 2002 - Mary Stuart, American actress (b. 1926)

● 2003 - Chris Brasher, English athlete (b. 1928)

● 2003 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (b. 1917)

● 2003 - Roger Michael Needham, British cryptographer (b. 1935)

● 2003 - Rudolf Kingslake, Lens designer, and Engineer (b. 1903)

● 2004 - Andres Nuiamäe, first Estonian soldier to be killed in the Iraq War (b. 1982)

● 2004 - Carmen Laforet, famed Spanish novelist

● 2004 - Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (b. 1914)

● 2006 - Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1920)

● 2007 - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and political commentator (b.1917)

● 2007 - Baron Charles Forte, Italian-born hotelier (b. 1908)

● 2007 - Billy Thorpe, Australian musician (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) (b. 1946)


HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Abercius, martyr
● St. Caerealis
● St. Gabriel Possenti (leap years)
● St. Hedwig, Blessed
● St. Hilarius, Pope (461-68), calendar reformer (non-leap years)
● St. Macarius
● St. Oswald (d. 992)
● St. Romanus of Condat (d. 463)
● St. Ruellinus
● St. Rufinus
● St. Silvana
● Bl. Antonia of Florence (d. 1472)
● Bl. Villana

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for February 15 (Civil Date: February 28)
● Ap Onesimus of the Seventy.
● Synaxis of St. John the Theologian at Diaconissa.
● St. Eusebius, hermit of Syria.
● St. Paphnutius, monk, and his daughter St. Euphrosyne, nun, of Alexandria.
● Martyr Major of Gaza.
● St. Paphnutius, recluse of the Kiev Caves.
● St. Dalmatus, abbot and founder of the Dormition Monastery in Siberia.

● Christian:
● St. Romanus

● Bahá'í Faith - Day 3 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.

● Andalusia, Spain - Andalusia Day

● Finland - Kalevala Day (1835), The Day of Finnish Culture

● Luxembourg - Burgsonndeg-celebrates end of winter

● Taiwan - Peace Memorial Day, the day of commemorating the 2/28 Incident



THIS IS AN ABBREVIATED POST FOR THIS DATE USING ONLY THE FOLLOWING EIGHT SOURCES. A COMPLETE POST IS PLANNED AS SOON AS TIME ALLOWS.

This Previous Day in History Post With

This Original Wikipedia List form the core of this post.

Additional facts taken from:


Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Liberal Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

Quotes from the Right of the Day taken from Take Them at Their Words: Startling, Amusing and Baffling Quotations from the GOP and Their Friends, 1994-2004 Compiled by Bruce J. Miller with Diana Maio ©2004

Dumbest Thing Said for the Day taken from 1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said Edited by Steven D. Price ©2004


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